7 Best Office Automation Tools Example for Small Business

Summary: Office automation tools have made it easier for businesses to exchange data with other applications through integration. Let’s learn about these tools in detail below!

A few years ago, most businesses relied on managing data manually. From generating payroll to entering employees’ details and creating invoices, everything was done manually. Such tedious manual processes led to inaccurate data feed which caused huge financial losses and reputation damage. Whereas, today, every office task can be streamlined and completed in less time with automation tools.

From managing finance to processing orders, automating customer onboarding, and generating e-signatures, several tasks can be managed with office automation tools. In this article, we will compare some of the best tools for office automation.

What are Office Automation Tools?

An office automation tool is a combination of both software and hardware that helps in moving data automatically from one system to another without human intervention and inaccuracies. The software helps businesses collect, manage, and analyze data securely for everyday business operations.

The main purpose of office automation tools is to reduce manual work and store data accurately. The data which is managed by office automation system can be from different departments like accounting, finance, human resources, front desk, cloud infrastructure, project management, and so on.

List of 7 Best Office Automation Tools for Business Examples

• Expensify: Best for expense management
• Keka HRMS: Best for managing onboarding and payroll processing
• Okta: Best for identity management
• Kisi: Best for managing access control
• Envoy: Best for managing workspace
• Notion: Best for project management
• DocuSign: Best for managing e-signatures

There are different office automation tools available to automate various business procedures like payroll, onboarding, order processing, invoicing, etc. Here are a few examples of these tools for various use cases:

1. Expensify: Best for expense management

Expensify is an office automation tool designed specifically for tracking and managing personal and business expenses.

This tool is used for tracking, analyzing, approving, reconciling, and reimbursing expenses. It also offers functionalities to automate bills payment, manage payroll and travel expenses, and so on.

Features of Expensify

• Supports receipt scanning in single click
• Imports personal and business card transactions details
• Customizes workflows to manage expenses
• Imports general ledger codes into your system
• Manages and analyzes company’s expenses

Pros and Cons of Expensify

Free Trial: Not available

Expensify Pricing: Free plan available | Pricing is different for different features

2. Keka HRMS: Best for managing onboarding and payroll processing

Keka HRMS helps you in automating different HR workflows to easily manage people processes. Starting from candidates’ hiring and onboarding to their exit from the organization, every task can be managed with this software. Further, with HR analytics, you can view the workforce data and gain valuable insights from it.

Keka HRMS Features

• Employees onboarding management
• Offers advanced leave management
• Manages payroll and expenses
• Offers an employee self-service portal
• Supports GPS-based time tracking
• Digitize all the documents

Pros and Cons of Keka HR

Free Trial: Available

Pricing of Keka HRMS: No free plan available | Paid plan starts from INR 6999/month

3. Okta: Best for identity management

Okta is an identity and access management solution that helps users manage the permissions to access devices and applications. It has been built primarily for managing access of cloud applications, but you can also use it for managing access for on-premises devices.

Some features you get with Okta include Identity Governance, User Lifecycle Management, workflow automation, API and privileged access management.

Okta Features

• Authenticates and authorizes access to applications and devices
• Manages privilege controls
• Provides single sign on to customers and employees
• Protects the data against malicious attacks
• No code customization options to customize assets as per the brand identity
• Manages provisioning and deprovisioning of identities

Pros and Cons of Okta

Free Trial: 30 days

Pricing of Okta: It offers different pricing for managing customers and workforce identity.

4. Kisi: Best for managing access control

Kisi is an all platform that offers both software and hardware to restrict and manage access to your building’ doors, applications, devices, and IOT devices.

With it, you can manage the facility access, integrate with other software to manage access control, identify vulnerabilities in the existing security systems, etc. This office automation application can also be used for restricting access to a specific floor with Elevator Access.

Features of Kisi

• Enables you to provide temporary access to visitors via keycards
• Offers 2FA methods for verification
• Supports automated provisioning of identities
• Manages the remote access to your devices and applications
• Easily locks and unlocks access to specific spots in your organizations

Pros and Cons of Kisi

Kisi Pricing: Price available on request at its official website.

5. Envoy: Best for managing workspace

Envoy is workplace platform that lets you work and collaborate with teams from a single solution. With it, you can manage your visitors, employees, workplace, etc.

With this platform, you can manage your employee’s directory, manage all visitors, store legally signed documents, create badges for visitors, pre-register your guests, and so on.

Features of Envoy

• Sorts and filters visitors’ data
• Customizes legal documents according to visitor type
• Helps manage multiple office locations
• Maintains a record of past and present employees
• Helps create administration team panel for managing visitors

Pros and Cons of Envoy

Free Trial: Available

Envoy Pricing: Free plan available | Paid plan starts from INR 8,956.04/month

6. Notion: Best for project management

Notion is a software program that lets you create a connected workflow to track and manage all the projects. With it, you can keep all your knowledge base, projects, and documents in a centralized database. Notion can also be used for sorting and filtering different tasks, customizing labels and tags, generating calendars, managing permissions, and much more.

Notion Features

• Creates private team spaces
• Offers advanced page analytics
• Provisions and deprovisions permissions
• Enables you to invite others for work on projects
• Supports unlimited file uploads
• Customizes your site domain

Pros and Cons of Notion

Free Trial: Available 

Notion Pricing: Free plan available | Paid plan starts from INR 6999/month 

7. DocuSign: Best for managing e-signatures

DocuSign eSignature is used to get documents signed legally and securely. You can use this software for all the documents that require e-signatures.

Further, any changes made in the document post signatures can also be recorded and tracked. Some other features of DocuSign include signer identification and authentication, documents archiving, data validation, documents correction, and so on.

Features of DocuSign

• Sends documents to clients for e-signatures
• Supports real time audit trail to check the signing procedure
• Allows signatures in 44+ languages
• Supports mobile responsive signing
• Customizable branding for emails and notifications
• Manages user permissions to access contracts and documents
• Integrates with various productivity apps

Pros and Cons of DocuSign

Free Trial: Available for 30 days

DocuSign Pricing: No free plan available | Paid plan starts from INR 1,231.68/month

How to Use Tools for Office Automation?

To use office automation tools, follow the given steps:

Step 1: Select the type of office automation tool you want to use like accounting, HRMS, backend, etc.

Step 2: After that, install and login to the software with your login credentials

Step 3: Next, fill in your company details depending on your office automation tool type.

Step 4: After that, select the tasks you want to automate. For example, if you are using HRMS software, you can select onboarding, payroll, performance management, etc.

Step 5: The selected tasks will be completed automatically, and you can change them as per your requirements.

Benefits of Office Automation Tools

• Makes it easier to store and manage data
• You can easily exchange data between different applications
• Helps in automating complex tasks to save time and money
• Provides valuable insights on existing data through analysis
• Enables you to restrict access to on-premises and cloud applications
• Makes it easier for employees to work and collaborate in real time

Limitations of Office Automation Tools

• Many employees may not necessarily have the skill set to manage office automation and require additional training.
• The initial cost of implementing these tools becomes an additional cost for businesses.
• Data breaches may occur if security protocols are affected.
• Compatibility issues might occur when old systems are not able to integrate into the new software.

Conclusion

Office automation systems can help a lot in boosting productivity and improving operational efficiency. By automating various office tasks like payroll, expense management, or project management, business can save a lot of resources and money in the long run.

FAQs on Office Automation Tools